In communications networks, there may be a challenge to obtain good performance and capacity for a given communications protocol, its parameters and the physical environment in which the communications network is deployed.
For example, one parameter in providing good performance and capacity for a given communications protocol in a communications network is the ability to provide efficient network access for wireless devices served by the communications network.
FIG. 1 is a signalling diagram of part of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) random access procedure between a radio transceiver device 300 (e.g., a wireless device) and two other radio transceiver devices 200a, 200b (e.g., radio access network nodes such as gNB (next Generation NodeB) or TRP (Transmission and Reception Point). The radio transceiver devices 200a, 200b transmit synchronization signals (SS), such as PSS (Primary synchronization signal), SSS (Secondary synchronization signal), NR-PSS (New radio primary synchronization signal), NR-SSS (New radio secondary synchronization signal), enabling the radio transceiver device 300 to perform synchronization, step S301. The radio transceiver devices 200a, 200b transmits system information, such as configuration parameters, on a broadcast channel PBCH (Physical Broadcast Channel), NR-PBCH (New Radio Physical Broadcast Channel), possibly complemented by configuration parameters received on yet another channel, step S302. The radio transceiver device 300 that would like to access the network initiates the random access procedure by transmitting a random access preamble (Msg1) in the uplink on the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH), step S303. FIG. 1 it s assumed that both radio transceiver devices 200a, 200b receives the random access preamble on the PRACH. A radio transceiver device 200a, 200b receiving the preamble and detecting the random-access attempt will respond in the downlink by transmitting a random access response (RAR; Msg2), steps S304a, S304b. It here assumed that the radio transceiver device 300 receives the RAR only from radio transceiver device 200a, and hence not from radio transceiver device 200b. The RAR carries an uplink scheduling grant for the radio transceiver device 300 to continue the procedure by transmitting a following subsequent message in the uplink (Msg3) for terminal identification to the radio transceiver device 200a from which it received the RAR, step S305.
A PRACH resource is defined which is common for several SS (NR-PSS and NR-SSS) as described in “NR random access procedure”, R1-1609670, 3GPP TSG-RAN WG1 #86bis, Lisbon, Portugal, Sep. 10-14, 2016. This flexible timing indication of the PRACH resource has lower resource overhead compared to using a fixed timing. The timing from SS to the PRACH resource can be indicated in a master Information Block (MIB). Alternatively, this timing is conceivably in the SS itself or another related field, if another system information format should be agreed. Different SS can then be used for different timings such that the detected sequence within SS gives the PRACH resource. This PRACH configuration might be specified as a timing relative to the transmission of the SS and the transmission of the PBCH, and can be given as a combination of the payload in the MIB and other broadcasted system information. However, this does not resolve the situation outlined above where the radio transceiver device 300 does not receive the RAR from the radio transceiver device 200b. 
However, there is still a need for an improved random access procedure.